Saturday, August 15, 2009

Eyes!!!

Jai parked his old yellow bajaj priya scooter in the college's parking lot and took out his polythene containing his books. Since college, he had abandoned taking his books in bags. Bags are for school boys, not for college going big boys. He used to carry a single notebook and a pen in his polybag - simply to scribble during the lectures. He looked at his watch - it was already 11 AM and the first class was almost getting over. He was again late. He thought, why did he have to sit late in the night and read novels on his home PC. It was the same story everyday. Always missing the first lecture.

He walked into the college building and towards his class, and met some of the other late comers in the lobby. They were all waiting for the lecture to finish so that they could go and take their seats in the lecture room. Adi, one of his good friends said `The lecture is not that important`. Jai said `Ya, you would say that. You were also late`. Few other people were also strolling around. Others were sitting on the window slab and discussing girls. Girls tend to be the ususal topic during college times.

The topic of the new batch came in. Someone said `Heard that the cutoff for admission to medical has gone up to 97%`. In those days the admissions in Gujarat based universities used to happen on merit basis. So whatever your score was in the 10+2 exams could decide your future. People used to go to tutions after school for extra coaching. Jai asked `What was the cutoff for computer science?`. That was the branch we were all in. Adi answered `I think it was 95%`. The percentage marks was calculated only for four subjects - Physics, Maths, Biology and Chemistry. Medical seats were the first to get filled up, followed by Chemical - due to the fact that there were a lot of chemical jobs in Gujarat. And then there were Electronics and Computers which got filled up next.

And the topic shifted to the new batch which came in last year. Jai and his friends were now in the third year of their graduation. After feasting their eyes on the girls in their own batch they were now tired and were craving for something new. There was this saying that the girls in the batch one year junior to them were good.

'Have you heard about the girl nikita' Adi asked. 'No, what about her?' Jai answered. 'She is supposed to be a bombshell' Adi answered. 'What yaar? Every good looking girl is a bombshell. What is so special about her?' Jai asked again. 'Man you got to see her to believe her beauty' Adi said. 'Now you have got me interested. What is so good about her - figure, hair ?' Jai presses again to get a vulgar description of the girl.

But it seems that even Adi had not looked at that girl. He had just heard about her. Else he would have gone ahead and gave a complete inch by inch description of the girl.

The bell rang and we went up the stairs to stay out of site of the teacher whose class we had bunked (or missed). We saw the professor go out followed by a bunch of 'intelligent' students asking him questions.

'Trying to impress the prof' - Adi commented 'Well, they make marks by impressing the prof. We should follow in their footsteps' - Jai said. 'To hell with marks. What they want are better recomendations, so they could pursue their MS in US? Do you want to go to US?' - Adi said 'Firstly man, i dont want to study further. I am tired of studying. And secondly, I think it is a waste of money to go to US? You might be at the same level if you have 2 years experience. And lastly, my family does not have enough money to send me to US and i do not want to take a loan for studying' Jai explained. 'I know, i know, lets get into class' - Adi said.

And we got into the class. The last benches were the best. Teachers rarely saw what was happening on the last benches. Some were finishing off their practical journals. Others were simply making doodles. It was the attendance that mattered. Attendance was required to be eligible to give exams.

So how did those guys make the exams when they did not actually "Attend" the class. Mostly simply got the syllabus and studied on their own. They used to get a one month leave for preparing for their exams. And that was enough to sail through the exams.

After 2 boring lectures, there was a half hour lunch break. And we all moved down to the canteen. Jai and Adi went from the back entrance - which was actually a thin wall. After 2 years of trying to cross it without losing their balance, they had now perfected their skill. Adi ran over the wall and Jai followed. Both landed in the Canteen.

The canteen was a huge shed covered with tin. There were cemented tables where one could simply stand and have their food. The food was ok. One can get anything ranging from pakodas to rice and dal here. Jai and Adi were deciding what to have, when someone said 'Look there's nikita'. And we all turned around. She was ordering something from the counter. 'Let me get pakodas and coke' Jai said. And rushed over to the counter.

What Jai saw, amazed him. Nikita was just like a common girl. Nothing great about her. Ofcourse she had a okie figure - nothing great or out of proportion. Hair to her shoulders. She was wearing normal stuff - nothing too revealing or fashionable. Her hair was tied in a ponie.

'One plate pakodas and a coke' - Jai ordered.

And she turned around and looked directly at Jai. Jai stopped breathing for a couple of seconds - while she looked at him. And then she took her order and left. Jai was mesmerized.

'20 Rs.' - Said the canteen boy and shook Jai. 'Wow!!' - said Jai and rushed back with pakodas and coke to Adi.

'Oh God!!, she is beautiful' said Jai, 'Lets move closer to her table'. And they moved closer to her table to overhear what she was saying.

'So,' Adi said, 'What is so good about her?' 'Her eyes man' - Jai answered, 'I have never seen eyes like that. She has brown eyes and they are huge and deep. You could stare at them for a couple of seconds and you could get lost. It is not that i have not seen good eyes. I have seen blue eyes, black eyes and even foggy eyes, really big eyes. But, she has the eyes that could beat all of them - even the best one of them. I dont know where she got them. Otherwise she is a normal girl'.

'Oh!' - Adi shows his realization. 'But man you have to see them to believe them. I am sure i could never forget those eyes. I have never seen eyes like that, and I am sure i would never ever see eyes like those' - Jai repeats. 'Maybe she is wearing contacts' Adi says. 'No yaar, those eyes were real. Even colored contacts could not be that beautiful' - Jayant says. 'But man, do you want ahead and try to be friends with her? I think she has a boyfriend though.' - Adi asks. 'I think she sounds quite dumb.' Said Jai after overhearing to Nitika's conversation for some time. 'I would prefer intelligence over beauty' 'Well, then you have a long way to look - cause beauty and brains and compatibility is a very rare match' - Adi explains.

They finish their lunch and head back to the classes for more lectures. The eyes that Jai had seen stays embedded within his mind - and he may dream about them.